


Show A Little Loving, Shine A Little Light On Me

by UniversallyEcho



Category: Soy Luna (TV)
Genre: And demonstrating interactions between people, Basically just realistically furthering the characters, Developing Friendships, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love Languages, Post-Canon, While exploring different ways Simbar show their love for each other, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22117048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniversallyEcho/pseuds/UniversallyEcho
Summary: All her life Ámbar has been trying to prove herself. Prove herself to Sharon, prove herself to Juliana, even prove herself to Matteo. Simón doesn’t want to be added to the list of people who she feels she has to convince. He knows how strong she is. Knows how ambitious and hardworking and talented she is. Knows how far she’s willing to go for the things and people she believes in. He just wants her to know that it won’t make her less weak to ask for help or a day off or even just an extension, but he knows Ámbar won’t listen to a word he has to say if she still feels like she needs to prove herself to him. Like she’s not enough for him.“I know you can” His hand comes up to cup her face, curling a piece of her hair around her ear. Ámbar turns her face into his touch, her eyes staring into his as his thumb brushes along her cheekbone. He repeats himself, more firmly this time,  “Ámbar, I know you can.”Or; Simón and Ámbar discover their love languages
Relationships: Luna Valente/Matteo Balsano, Ámbar Smith/Simón Álvarez
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Acts Of Service

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from the song "Lover" by Anna of the North.

Matteo checks his watch for a third time while Simón’s gaze flicker toward the entrance routinely, looking for any sign that Ámbar had finally shown up. He turns his gaze back to the front, as to not look too suspicious and garner wariness from Juliana but she seemed too busy assisting a clumsy Luna. He honestly couldn’t tell anymore if she really couldn’t land the jump or if she was purposely messing up to stall for more time. The others at the practice seemed indifferent and completely unaware of the missing member causing this tension.

“I’m calling it,” Matteo says from behind his phone screen. “Something work related came up and she’s going to be late for practice.”

“Keep your voice down.” Simón hushes from beside him, taking one more glance at Juliana, then at the entrance before adding, “She’s not going to be late. She never is.”

If he was talking about anyone else there might have been some hesitance in his voice but Simón had complete and utter faith in Ámbar’s time management abilities. Besides, out of everyone on the team, Ámbar was the one who cared most about punctuality, sometimes even more so than Juliana. Which is why it caught Simón by surprise to see her black and purple skates still in the locker room when he came in to change for practice. What was even more surprising was when the team had already started stretching, five minutes before drills started, and she was still nowhere in sight.

He probably should have seen it coming though. Lately, it seemed as though Ámbar couldn’t even catch her breath for a second before Vidia called with another one of their demanding requests. The management team had decided to become more _ ‘involved’ _ in Ámbar’s affairs since the missing folder debacle. Apparently  _ ‘involved’  _ actually just meant more critical in each of her actions, as they now asked for updates, statistics and future plans almost every single day.

It wasn’t all their fault though, Ámbar wasn’t exactly helping her situation by becoming more ambitious. Simón was sitting right next to her, both of them on her black and white graffiti style comforter when she was browsing through online university courses on her laptop and came across a business course.

Back when Gary first announced he was leaving Jam & Roller in Ámbar’s hands, Simón had thought it was going to be another part of her revenge and she would quickly grow bored of the responsibilities. He couldn’t have been further from the truth though. Months later she was still just as passionate about the job as ever, deciding to further her education in the matter so she could really make the store the best that it could be. Each week he would find her brainstorming and planning future themed events that would bring in new customers, each one more successful than the last and bringing in enough revenue that Vidia decided to enhance the place with some renovations.

They gave her the option to take a break during the months it would take to carry out the renovations. At least they were sensible enough to realize that she had other plans in life to follow through as a young adult than operating renovations at the Jam & Roller. She wouldn’t be Ámbar though if she decided to turn over all her control so easily. After receiving some advice from Monica, she decided to take on the role as supervisor during the process. This way she could be a part of the process without sacrificing all her personal goals. Even so, just supervision took up so much of her time.

When Simón asked her one night why she didn’t complain to them about the amount of work they passed on to her, she didn’t even take a second before answering, “Now that I finally have their attention, I’m going to do something with it.

And she did. Working with a construction and design team hired by Vidia, Ámbar had already planned out a new slightly bigger and more size conscious skating rink as well as a more extravagant stage that she had sent in for Vidia to confirm last night. Simón thought this would mean that Ámbar would finally have some free time, hopefully that she would spend with him, but this morning during breakfast she had left early again, stating that she needed to wrap up a couple of details at the rink.

Which is why he was even more befuddled that he couldn’t find her when he stepped inside.

As Simón’s train of thought continues to wander a warm body slides next to his, briefly snapping him from his theories.

“Ámbar!” He yells in surprise, a little too loud based on the strange looks the others give him and the questioning gaze Juliana sends his way. It doesn’t matter though. The smile that brightens across Ámbar’s face from his enthusiastic response is enough to quiet the judgement of a thousand people. She reaches out a hand to clasp one of his as a response and Simón doesn’t waste a second before lifting both hands up to his lips and pressing a sweet kiss along her knuckles.

Matteo ruins their moment, this time while putting his phone away and asking, “I don’t know how you do it? You got here way before us and still manage to be late.”

Ámbar answers to his light teasing, still pressing her side into Simón’s and he can’t himself but to use his spare hand to hold her waist while she answers, “I’m not late, you guys haven’t even started practice yet. I’m just not as early as I normally am.”

“Which is late for you,” he rebuts right back.

Ámbar rolls her eyes but doesn’t retort any argument back, revealing that she actually agrees with him, at least just a little. 

Juliana gathers everyone's attention as she finishes instructing Luna on her jump.

It’s when Simón notices the frustrated eyebrow furrow on Juliana’s face and her slightly agitated expression that it registers to him that it might not have been his brightest idea to have Luna disturb her.

“All right, apparently some of you are having trouble with the tricks in this routine despite asking  _ incessantly _ for more challenging moves” She emphasizes this point while glancing to a sheepish Luna, “So today, I want all of you to focus on the jumps”.

It takes only those instructions for all the members to grow serious, nodding understandingly as she orders them to run through the routine.

As suddenly as she appeared, Ámbar leaves his side to get in her first position and Simón yearns for her to stay with him. Before he can grow too clingy, the loud beat of their routine music thrums through the rink, acting as a catalyst in a series of motions.

Simón never intended for this much of his life to be consumed by skating. Sure, it was a nice hobby, but he wasn’t as emotionally connected to it as Luna was or anywhere near as precise and detailed as Ámbar.

Even so, his practice seems to be paying off because Juliana has yet to critique him and he’s pretty sure it’s all thanks to his girlfriend. They were first introduced the choreography a week ago, and Simón isn’t ashamed to say that he sucked at it. Like, majorly, Juliana was considering killing him off, sucking. Thankfully, Ámbar never minded taking her time to practice with him, making that time even more enjoyable, even if sometimes they got a little distracted.

Simón smiled at the memory of her growing annoyed at his lack of exactness. Even now, with how busy she was with Vidia she still put in the time to help him. That’s what touched Simón the most. He could think of a thousand other things that she could have been doing that night with her free time. And yet she spent it with him. Skin against skin in the dark lights of an already closed rink, she mimed the moves with him. Adjusting him whenever he made a mistakes and rewarding him with kisses and her beautiful smile each time he did one right. He can’t think of a better way to learn. She helped him retain each individual gesture while skating which helped him keep his focus during practice.

Or, well, it would be helping his focus, if his attention wasn’t so firmly, inexplicably fixed on Ámbar.

Ámbar, who seemed to be doing a much better job at concentrating than him, was moving diligently across the rink. She glided like the skates were an extension of her body, effortlessly and fluently.

She was oblivious to his gaze. She seemed to be oblivious to everything but the music. She twirled endlessly to the first verse, swinging her arms in upward motions all in while murmuring the lyrics under her breath.

There’s an intensity to Ámbar that he’s never understood, even less so now, though it’s always drawn him to her. An intensity that intimidates him a little but impresses him a lot.

He can see it now in the way she holds herself. It’s in the way her skirt flutters with every tilt, every steer, every curved hip movement and yet the line of her back is straight. It’s how she holds herself. Her posture levelled as she throws her shoulders back and keeps her chin raised. Her blonde hair tied in a high ponytail was wisping behind her after each turn and he could almost smell it’s blend of heated brown sugar and jasmine.

“Are you daydreaming right now?!” Juliana’s harsh voice startles him out of his haze. Surprisingly enough, she isn’t even directing her question to him but he doesn’t feel like further testing his luck so he manages to think solely of the dance for the remainder of their practice.

This happens to span over hours of grewling repetition until Simón is no more than a heavy breathing, sweaty, mass of muscle and he follows the majority to the sidelines to grab some water. Before taking a drink from his own bottle, he reaches for Ámbars, handing it to her as she smiles gratefully. Few puffs of air pass her lips as she catches her breath, the only sign that she had been training at all. Even the sheen of sweat on her face just adds to her dewy complexion.

Before Simón goes to open his mouth to tell Ámbar how much he’s missed her in the past five hours, Juliana calls for their attention once more.

“I have some very exciting news!”

He thinks this is the most enthusiastic he’s ever seen her and somehow he doesn’t think it’s their performance that has her this thrilled.

He notices from the corner of his eye that Jazmin’s already went and grabbed her tablet to film this so called “news”, he wonders for a minute how she could have possibly been so fast to seize it. Juliana narrows her eyes in obvious disapproval, apparently also seeing this act, but the announcement is too grand for her displeasure to last long.

“One of the audience members at the RiverLiveFest you’ve performed at is actually a coordinator for another roller competition and has invited us to perform at their tournament!”

Simón’s eyes find themselves looking for Ámbars immediately. They look at each other in astonishment and there’s only a second of silence in the rink before it erupts into chaotic noise where each person is yelling out their questions. 

Simón watches as Ámbar reaches out for his hand, waiting until she’s properly clasped onto it before tugging at his arm until he shuffles closer to her. Once they’re only less than a meter apart she pulls him so that she can easily rest her head onto his shoulder. Simón’s heartbeat stutters at her casual action and his adoration for her grows, a feat he thought impossible.

The noise around them seems to disappear, or at least, it becomes muted. Making it feel like Ámbar and Simón have both fallen underwater while the rest of the world fades above them.

With their close proximity, Simón doesn’t even have to raise his voice to subtly ask her, “So another competition, are you excited?”

Ámbar hums before replying, “Definitely, things were getting too peaceful here.”

Simón snorts, stunned at her response, and has to tilt his head to catch her facial expression to figure out where she’s joking or not. It doesn’t exactly  _ ease _ his concern when he realizes she’s not kidding.

“I’m serious!” Ámbar notices his dumbfounded look and continues, “Luna couldn’t even do a simple axel jump today. I saw her asking Juliana for guidance!”

An amused chuckle escapes his mouth without his notice and he doesn’t have to look at her face to know her eyes are narrowing in agitation.

“She was actually just being a nice friend and trying to delay practice.” He’s quick to get these next words out, worried that if he doesn’t she’ll beat him with an annoyed retort and once he does he watches as a wave of confusion passes through Ámbar’s face.

“Delay?” Simón nods in confirmation, “Why?”

His next words are light and easy and he makes sure she can feel his breath on her cheek when he says it, “because  _ someone _ was late.”

Her reaction is immediate. From the way her lips turn downwards almost imitating a scowl, and complete and utter exasperation masks her features. To the way she jerks from his hold immediately, making sure that they are making eye contact so her next words are clear and coherent in meaning, each one slower than the next so even a toddler would be able to understand,

“I was  _ not _ late.”

A full smile grows on his face as he shakes his head amused. He was absolutely amazed by her ability to remain stubborn. The look she sends his way is one of an angry kitten, trying to be aggressive but too cute to actually take seriously. He’s seen this look before, multiple times in the past, many of them when she was trying to prove she was changing to Simón during a time where he didn’t want to believe that she was. During each and every one of those times he’d wanted to hug her right then and there. And now, he wants to settle behind her, to slide his hands around her small waist and have her lean her weight against him while he kisses the top of her head. So he does. Because he can do that now. Because they were dating .

He had to keep reminding himself of this. Otherwise, he’d just believe this was all a part of some twisted fantasy that he could only play out in his dreams. This was real though. She had really changed,  _ or _ ,  _ actually _ , she had really showed her true colours. And now he gets to spend every single day of the rest of his life with her. Even a second less isn’t enough.

Simón was still in that magical bubble of space, where the only thing he was paying any attention to was Ámbar, so he didn’t initially notice when Juliana cleared her throat loudly,  _ not understanding the concept of subtlety _ , in hopes of quieting everyone.

She doesn’t seem at all startled by their lack of attentiveness as she persists until they all settle down enough to be able to hear further details.

“You will be performing the routine you’ve just practiced today and, while the festival takes place over a week, we will be performing on the second day. We leave tomorrow afternoon and you all will road trip there in van. I know it’s on short notice, but our spot wasn’t official until last night.”

“A van?” Jazmin asks in dismay. She doesn’t seem to be the only one to be off put by this news either, as it’s clear the eager air once surrounding them had dropped instantaneously.

Completely oblivious to her disgust, or maybe aware and just ignoring it, Juliana responds, “Isn’t it great! A wonderful opportunity for you all to practice team bonding.”

From beside him he can hear Ámbar mutter under her breath, “Oh yes, because that went so well last time.” 

Reaching in front of him to gently squeeze Ámbar’s arm in reassurance he tries to tilt his head before realizing that the angle won’t allow him to look at her properly. Ámbar seems to notice his attempts and turns her face further to the front, making it even more difficult for him to get a good look at her.

He didn’t expect her to be  _ thrilled _ about the idea of being trapped with the rest of the team for such an extended period of time, but he also didn’t think she’d be against it. He thought she was making progress with making up with the others. She had told him a while ago that she was working on apologizing to each person she did wrong to individually, as to make it more natural and sincere and less forced. He thought it was a great idea and was proud of her for wanting to own up to her actions. He assumed that things between her and the others were back to normal now, or at least as normal as it could be after everything that happened. Although, to be fair, he hadn’t really asked her about it for a couple weeks now because he didn’t want to add to her stress. Even so, just seconds ago she seemed delighted about competing again, it’s strange how quickly her mood changed.

“Wait, you said that we were going to road trip,” Luna calls out abruptly, “Does that mean you aren’t?”

Juliana attempts to breeze through her answer casually but her unease is explicit “Not that it’s any of your concern, but it so happens that this same man has offered to drive me there himself and it would be rude of me to decline.”

The blush in the woman’s cheeks seem almost unnatural with her practiced stoic expression. Who would’ve thought even Juliana was trying her hand in the dating game. Matteo and Ramiro, of course, utilize this moment to poke fun at her, their eyes twinkling mirthfully as they cheer. Simón, on the other hand, thought it was sweet. Everyone deserves to find love,  _ like he did _ .

“Alright, that’s enough! We’re done practice for the day, you can all go now!” She explains over their loud chants. “Meet back up here tomorrow at 2 in the afternoon!”

With the atmosphere in high spirits, everyone starts to pack up their things, exhaustion and adrenaline mixing to form an interesting collaboration of tired groans and animated chatter. Simón goes to follow suit when he realizes Ámbar was not with him. He hadn’t even felt her drift apart from the crowd.

It doesn’t take long for him to spot her,  _ always seeming to be pulled in her direction anyway, _ what he sees though makes him feel unsettled.

She’s in the corner of the rink, isolated from the exit where everyone is drifting. Her expression is hard to read and any other person might have brushed off her strange actions but Simón could tell something was wrong. He wished she would just come to him when something was bothering her, it would lessen the hours in a week he spent worrying about her. As much as it can frustrate him that she’s not the type of person who always voices her concerns, he understands it’s a product of the environment she was raised in. The one where she would be criticized mercilessly the moment she showed any sign of weakness. She deserves better than that, and he hopes one day he’ll have enveloped her with enough affection and reassurance that she’ll be comfortable being openly vulnerable with him. Until the day this happens, he’ll just have to use his own devices.

There’s a split second of pause in Simón's posture while he thinks about his plan, and then he’s moving again. Toward her. 

“Hey” He starts off gently as to not startle her, “you’re not leaving? You haven’t forgotten our plans to watch a movie with Luna and Matteo have you?”

She looks up at him as soon as he speaks and he watches her attempt,  _ and fail, _ at showing a soft smile, “No, no, I just, needed a moment.” She should really know by now that Simón of all people can see straight through her.

Ámbar goes to close the distance between them, reaching out for Simón’s hands to reassure him that he shouldn’t be worried. He smiles at her fondly.  _ Of course she goes to comfort him when she’s the one who needs comforting. _

Noticing that she was still a little on edge he asks, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah of course” Her lie comes out perky and cheery and totally fake. She doesn’t last even a second under his knowing gaze, “Well, no, but it will be. Nothing to worry about.”

Seemingly like she’s done talking about it, Ámbar encircles Simón’s neck with her arms but he intercepts her kiss by tilting his head so their foreheads are touching instead and he can look straight into her eyes as he states, “I thought you were excited about the competition.”

“I am, it’s not that. I just -” Her eyes wander, looking right about everywhere except into his own until she finally surrenders and answers softly, “Now I’m going to have to wake up even earlier tomorrow to send in the final dimensions because one of the teams forget to measure the stage and the person who was in charge of the tables used the wrong measurement and I have to remeasure them in the right one to make sure he didn’t mess up anything else.”

This is the first time she’s actually admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the workload, her tone exasperated as she speaks.

“Ámbar, if it’s too much for you all you need to do is-”

“It’s not too much for me. I can handle it!” He regrets his words as soon as he sees the way her face falls, like he betrayed her by questioning her capability, when in reality, he was just trying to ease the weight on her shoulders.

All her life Ámbar has been trying to prove herself. Prove herself to Sharon, prove herself to Juliana, even prove herself to Matteo. Simón doesn’t want to be added to the list of people who she feels she has to convince. He knows how strong she is. Knows how ambitious and hardworking and talented she is. Knows how far she’s willing to go for the things and people she believes in. He just wants her to know that it won’t make her less weak to ask for help or a day off or even just an extension, but he knows Ámbar won’t listen to a word he has to say if she still feels like she needs to prove herself to him. Like she’s not enough for him.

“I know you can” His hand comes up to cup her face, curling a piece of her hair around her ear. Ámbar turns her face into his touch, her eyes staring into his as his thumb brushes along her cheekbone. He repeats himself, more firmly this time, “Ámbar, I know you can.”

Ámbar nods hesitantly for a second before taking a deep breath, her expression softening, “Good”. Ámbar’s hand squeezes his shoulder, the tension between each other melting as quickly as it started, “How was your day? Did you figure out the song you were working on?”

At the mention of his song, he sighs exasperated and a groan escapes from his mouth. Normally, Ámbar was the only one in this relationship who had a flare for the dramatics but he supposes this is what happens when two people spend so much time together. They rub off on one another. He watches from the corner of his eye as a smile pull the edges of Ámbar’s mouth.

“No!” He exclaims loudly, this time Ámbar bursts into laughter beside him, no longer able to contain her mirth. He starts to skate towards to exit where he’s sure everyone has already left by now, Ámbar’s hand in tow as he distracts her with his stories of defeat.“I don’t get it! The verses were so easy to write but now none of us can figure out what to do for the chorus.”

Ámbar chews on her bottom lip, deep in thought, before she gives a squeeze to his hand encouraging him with, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Yeah, maybe in fifty years, when we’re all about to retire.”

Ámbar shakes her head, determined to put him at ease, “You just need to get out a bit, you’ve been so trapped in this place,” she waves her hands gesturing to the Jam & Roller to emphasize her point “that you lost inspiration. Once we go on this road trip and you get some air, maybe go sightseeing, I'm sure you’ll get right back to doing what you always do”

“And what's that?”

“Make magic”

He smiles at the way she talks about him, so certain that he’ll succeed no matter what, and Simón would be lying to say that he wasn’t already starting to feel a little better about the whole situation. At her latest comment, he gazes at her amused as she barely holds back a cringe at her own sickly sugary words. They were both prone to being a little corny sometimes,  _ they were still in the honeymoon phase after all _ , but he always found himself a little off guard whenever Ámbar communicated her reciprocation. It was usually Simón who declared his love. He had a big heart, one that always wanted to appreciate and care for the people around him. He wasn’t so used to receiving it. That sentimental feeling doesn't last long though. The moment Ámbar’s gaze turns to look at him and they make eye contact, they succumb to the feeling of laughter. The moment too cliched for either of them to remain serious for long. Somehow, the way her eyes light up and scrunch as a grin takes over Ámbar’s face feels even better for Simón.

“Hey! Don’t laugh, what I said was super sweet. And great advice.” Simón can only nod his head still laughing while Ámbar feins being offended. Despite her own words, she’s laughing too though. Both of them too caught up in each other to notice the glances of customers passing by. She flips her hair,  _ reminding him of when he first met her _ , before bragging, “I’m such a good girlfriend.”

“You really are.”

Her words were said in a light and teasing tone meant to be taken as a joke. But she really was. The best girlfriend he’s ever had, though that might not be such a tough competition, considering his exes. She didn’t give herself enough credit. Always focusing on trying to make up for her past mistakes that she still hasn’t realized that he forgave her a long time ago. He wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t. Even now he thinks that some of her headstrong fixation on Jam & Roller is partly to make up for all the terrible things she did to this building and the people in it. He could tell it was just causing her more stress though. Stress that could be completely avoided if she asked for help. But she isn't going to. So he knows what he has to do.

“Actually, I just remembered I can’t go to the mansion right now.”

Ámbar’s steps falter as she takes in his new announcement,“Why not?”

“Because…” He swallows and rubs the back of her neck, trying to think of his next words when he spots one of his guitars on the side of the stage, “Because I need to… change the strings of my guitar.”

“Okay.” Ámbar accepts the lie easily enough and Simón’s internally cheering for joy when she continues with, “that probably won't take too long, I’ll just stay until you’re done.”

“You can’t!”

“I can’t?” Ámbar repeats his abrupt words more slowly as if trying to digest them.  _ She must think he’s gone crazy. _

“No. I’m sorry but I need some alone time with my guitar.”

“You need some alone time….with your guitar…” This time Ámbar doesn’t even seem to try and understand his words, repeating them purely to make him notice how ridiculous he sounds. Which is not fair on his part. He knows he sounds ridiculous. He doesn’t need another person to make him realize this. But to be fair he’s short on time and just now came up with the idea to do all of this.

“Yes”

A sudden miracle seems to be gifted upon him when Ámbar carefully trails her eyes over him before very hesitantly replying, “Okay, sure.” Watching the way Simón seems to relax from her words she confirms, “I’ll see you a little later than?”

He nods affirmative before leaning his head down and softly pressing his lips against hers. The piece of hair he had pushed behind her ear earlier falls back in front of her eyes and she blows out a breath, the warm air from her mouth pushing the strands away from her face. Her eyes flutter as her piercing gaze stares at him suspiciously one last time before she turns around to go to the mansion.

The movie marathon was going to have to wait, Simón had work to do.


	2. Touch

It’s been hours. It’s been  _ multiple _ hours and Simón still hasn’t shown up.

Honestly, If she’d known his little guitar session,  _ if that was even what he was doing, _ would go on this late she probably would have put up more of a fight when he mentioned it. 

Maybe then she wouldn’t be stuck in this situation, feeling lonely while sitting on the couch in the living room, stuck to stare at a movie she has no interest in to avoid glancing at Matteo and Luna’s relentless flirting. 

This was only their second time doing a ‘family movie night’, Luna’s idea,  _ obviously _ , and Ámbar can honestly say that she already hates it.

The first time around Luna had chosen the movie, some sappy love story about overcoming obstacles and sacrificing for love, and instead of Matteo, Luna’s parents and Alfredo had joined them. That was at least semi-enjoyable. The absolute cheesy ridiculousness of the film made it great for internally mocking. Not to mention that for once everyone was able to spend some time together without worrying about any of Sharon’s future plans for revenge or trying to think of some of her own to take out her pent up aggression. Sure, she missed not having her godmother,  _ adoptive mother? _ , not with her but being surrounded with people she knew genuinely cared about her was an entirely new feeling that she was glad to experience for once.

This time though, this time she was feeling a little less of the love. Instead of a nice family bonding moment Luna had initially advertised the evening as it ended up being just an excuse for Luna to convince her father to leave her and Matteo by themselves in the mansion. 

While the adults were gone away to a friend’s dinner party, Luna, Matteo, Ámbar and Simón were supposed to continue the new tradition by themselves. 

The evening, however, has not panned out as it was meant to because she’s spending her few free hours of the day clutching a pillow against herself instead of Simón’s body while the obnoxious duo make out, reminding her of what she wishes she was currently experiencing. 

She doesn’t blame them, after all the conflicts they fought through to finally be together, she supposes that they deserve a happy ending too but  _ seriously  _ did they have to do it right in front of her? 

She tries to turn her head back towards the screen, she swears she does, but the plot is  _ so _ boring and the characters don’t even have personalities. She’d rather listen to Jazmín blabber about the newest designer handbag she recently bought than continue to watch the dull film. 

With her phone in her room, charging in an outlet, and her muscles too sore from practice to even attempt going up the stairs, the only option of entertainment left is to glance around the room. Her eyes briefly, very briefly, pausing on Matteo sucking face with Luna.

Ámbar watches, partially disgusted, partially intrigued, as Matteo leans his head away from Luna’s to look at her fondly. He seems to exude love as the sun exudes warmth when he pats down her frizzy hair. 

He looked at Luna the way Ámbar once wished he would look at her like. The way every girl needs to be looked at, like the whole world could crumble around them and he wouldn’t mind. So devoted and passionate, like he just learned about the true meaning of love. 

The way she looks at Simón, Ámbar realizes with a smile.

She used to resent Matteo so much for ruining their relationship. She always put the blame on him.  _ He _ wasn’t committed to her.  _ He _ didn’t understand her.  _ He _ humiliated her. And while a part of her still believes those statements are true, she sees now that she played a bigger part in their downfall than she’d like to admit. Even more so than just being manipulative and caring solely of their status and appearance. There were cracks in their relationship that were already fully formed and beginning to spread, she just didn’t see them until Luna showed up.

During their two years of being together she can't remember a time where they just hung out. A time where they felt comfortable enough in each other’s presence to relax side by side without saying a word. She was never interested enough in his personality or daily life to want to spend the day enjoying his company for no reason other than that. The only times they were together was to show off at school, or get publicity for their skating at the rink, or do an interview for Jazmín and Delfi. 

Ámbar didn’t even care when she noticed that there was always a clear purpose for his visits. She’d never experienced love before, never saw examples of it in her life as she grew up. She had nothing to compare their relationship to so she never saw this as a sign of how they were both slowly killing the other. 

She remembers a time, when their relationship was still fresh, that Matteo had faith he could knock down her walls. The ones that she learned she needed to use to protect herself with since a very young age. He persisted, through romantic gestures and dates involving picnics in meadows and roses. So many roses, yellow ones in an arrangement of other flowers, pink ones in the form of a corsage, even single stemmed red ones that he handed her in the light of the moon. Sharon used to yell at her for cluttering the house with worthless junk and Ámbar used her complaints as an excuse to stop the ceaseless boy. Especially since Ámbar hates most flowers and the only ones she find acceptable were white roses. Coincidentally, also the only colour of roses Matteo didn’t buy for her, “they’re too tacky” he had deemed them when she pointed out a few in the front display of a florist shop. 

Eventually he grew tired of the hard work, and her lack of reaction never fueled his motivation, so he gave up. As a result, their relationship grew tedious and tiresome and the exact opposite of what one should be. 

Simply put, they weren’t right for each other. Past Ámbar thought she could control who she loved, so she picked the prettiest, most popular and charming one to walk by her side. Never realizing that she couldn’t  _ shop _ for a boyfriend, she had to develop feelings for one,  _ real _ feelings. Feelings that, at the time, she hadn’t thought possible. Especially since any sentiment that required genuine vulnerability Ámbar used to avoid like the plague. 

She remembers the apology she made years ago, the one she said to Gaston and Matteo, she thinks that might have been the first time she really pushed the comfort zone of her emotions.  _ Not that it even really counts as an apology since her pitying performance prompted them to forgive her before she even finished her speech. _

She had told them that day that she’d had a difficult year, hoping her situation would excuse the childish actions she had committed, well, if that Ámbar had known how much more bullshit she’d have to get through before finally being at peace, she’d probably leave the country at the first chance she got. 

Looking back on it all, it's a wonder she didn’t rip all her hair out from stress. The lying, the cheating, the secrets, it was all so draining. And that’s not even including all the things  _ she _ did. 

The only upside being the fact that she’s become a better person from it, a person whose learned from her mistakes. A person whose still trying to figure out who she really is but knows she has at least one person who’ll love her through it all. Who’ll help her find new parts of herself through him. 

Ámbar knows she can love now because of him. He brought her heart back to life, and in turn, saved her. He insists she did it all herself, but deep down inside she knows that without Simón she would have no reason to fix her ways. She’d have no reason at all to fight her inner demons if she didn’t know that he’d be waiting at the end of the dark tunnel with a cup of hot cocoa and melody ideas for a new song. 

_ She misses him. _

They really hadn’t spent a lot of time together this week. Or this month in general. Actually she thinks they spent more time together when they  _ weren’t _ officially dating than they did right now.

It hurt more though now. Now that she’d finally seen a glimpse of what their relationship could be like she was aching for more.

She wanted to have more real conversations with him. She wanted to be familiarized with his voice and know his desires and opinions even better than himself. She wanted to be able to look at his eyes and instantly know what he was thinking. Her soul so deeply intertwined with his own that they worked together like a singular being.

Sighing deeply, Ámbar tilts her head toward the ceiling, cursing the stupid movie for being so boring that she’s stooped low enough to daydreaming about Simón. 

“I don’t understand why you chose this movie.” She exclaims loudly, partially talking to the air since she knows there’s no way Luna heard her over her obnoxious giggling as Matteo playfully tickled her. 

To her surprise she gets a response back, “Maybe you’d like it more if you were actually watching the screen.” 

The sarcastic retort comes from Matteo as he raises his eyebrows knowingly at her obvious frustration. Huffing, Ámbar crosses her arms over her chest, wiggling deeper into the couch. Whether it was for comfort of her method of escape at his accusatory tone, even she didn’t know. 

Fine. If Simón would rather spend his free time with his guitar than with her, she would spend hers productively, starting by packing her suitcase. 

It takes a great amount of effort for her to lift her body from the comfortable cushions and once she does, she’s even slower to drag herself up the stairs. 

“Where are you going?” Luna asks her faintly as Ámbar gains momentum on the steps. Through the corner of her eye she can see Luna’s attempt at detangling herself from Matteo. Ámbar worries for a minute that Luna’s going to convince her into staying but Matteo’s grip on his girlfriend is firm and her interest in Ámbar weak so it’s not long before she relaxes into his embrace, glancing at Ámbar one more time before surrendering defeat.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ámbar continues into her room, taking out the suitcase from inside the back of her closet before dropping it in the middle of her room.

She’s always dreaded packing, especially for shorter vacations. Her indecisiveness always making the process much harder than it should be. It probably didn’t help that her closet was filled to the brim with so many options, that staring at them for too long made it feel like her head would explode. 

Ámbar moved hesitantly towards the mess of clothes and started sorting through piles, picking only her absolute favorite pieces to move onto her bed. A pair of black fluttery shorts she wore to the beach once with Simón. He complimented her legs that day and she remembers the way his hand lightly moved to brush off sand that had stuck to her wet skin, claiming he didn’t want to trail sand into the car because it was hard to clean. Ámbar knew from the way his hand lingered what Simón’s true motive really was. They never got the chance to fulfill his desire though, Simón being called away to band practice, leaving Ámbar and her cropped black shorts to sunbathe by themselves. 

Chasing the vivid memory away with a shake of her head, her fingers roam over more fabrics to find her next suitable item. 

The cold touch of a silk shirt catches her attention. The delicate top has a deep cut at the top with crossing material to emphasize the chest. The fabric is a soft pink piece and she remembers it as the last item of clothing she bought before her rebellious dark phase, meaning that she never even got the chance to wear it. She lets her mind wander about the type of reaction it would occur in Simón. A flush in his cheeks or his eyes wide and dilated. Maybe he’d move quickly to tear it off her, or maybe he’d want her to stay in it. Instead choosing to trace figures on her skin through the fabric like he always did when they were cuddled together lounging in the living room. 

_ Focus Ámbar, you can’t just imagine different scenarios about simon, you have stuff to do. _

Dropping the shirt back into the dresser deeming it not appropriate for the occasion .  _ Next time _ , she promises herself.

For now she was going to stop thinking about Simón and use her time efficiently. Her thoughts were going to solely consist of what to wear so she could have her suitcase ready before she slept and give her more time in the morning to finish things up with Vidia.

By some grace of miracle she manages to get her head screwed on straight enough to work through her closet, unfolding and refolding clothes to look at each item before deciding her final set. Satisfied with items she’s picked out she starts to move each one from the top of her bed to carefully placed inside her suitcase, double checking that she’s happy with each one. Once she’s sure they are no more new clothes to pack away she closes the closet doors quickly peeking outside her window which reveals the overall process took hours as it was way past into the evening now. 

With a final zip of her suitcase she closes her eyes for a moment to enjoy the sweet feeling of accomplishment among the peaceful silence of the house.

“What are you doing still up?”

_ Oh god. Her Simón withdrawal symptoms were worsening, she was even imagining his voice now. _

Except she couldn’t have been. Not when she could very clearly, very distinctly feel his hands glide across her shoulders, pressing her against him as he studied her achievement. It seemed a lot less like an impressive feat when the suitcase took up such a small space compared to the rest of her room.

“Please don’t tell me you just came home to do more work after working all day at the roller.” Ámbar was going to respond with a snarky answer but her senses were immediately distracted with the heat of his breath as he murmured the words against her neck. 

It’s only seconds later, when she remembers she’s mad at him, that she flails away. Her hair escaping the loose bun she had haphazardly tied and popping off the elastic ponytail holder that flies before landing on the floor. 

Simón watches mirthfully as she attempts to pull a stern face while crossing her arms against her chest. His eyebrows slightly raised waiting for her to start scolding.

“Why didn’t you show up? Where were you? What were you doing? And don’t pull that guitar session crap with me because I know fully well that you like it when I’m there so—” Ámbar’s questions shoot out faster than Simón can process them but even he knows just from the look on her face that she doesn’t really care about the answers, at least not really. They're just premeditated thoughts that she gathered during the time he was gone and using to air out her frustration upon the first opportunity.

“Which question did you want me to answer first?” He interrupts her with a slightly sarcastic grin that doesn’t manage to soothe her worries like he thought they would. Instead her gaze narrows further, reminding him of the first time he showed up late to practice and her glare was enough to send goosebumps throughout his entire body. Ámbar takes a step closer to him, closing the distance she had initially created between them. Her finger is firm as it digs into his chest in her attempt to intimidate him _ , like she could ever do anything to intimidate him, _ as she overly pronounces the words, “What were you doing that you didn’t want me to know about?”

Chuckling lightly at her menacing tone, which really doesn’t help matters, he gently takes the hand of the finger poking him before lifting it up to press against his lips. He watches as Ámbar blinks excessively, clearly taken off guard at his counter but doesn’t pull away. 

Simón takes this as a sign that he probably won’t be  _ too _ badly injured if he continues with the prompt, “What if I told you you’d be really upset that you're treating me like this once you find out what I did?”

His teasing tone causing Ámbar to huff exasperated before following his tactic, “What if you stopped avoiding my questions with your own and just gave me a straight answer?”

Unamused at this attempt, Simón furrows his brows at Ámbar. The words ‘You’re not playing this game right.’ are at the tip of his tongue but he has a feeling she would just further make fun of him for it if he let them out.

“Don’t pout, it doesn’t look cute on you.” Her condescending tone worms its way through his thoughts in mock concern. He grows quickly insulted at her statement, not noticing for a second the inner turmoil that the words make in Ámbar’s thought process as she accepts that she was blatantly lying,  _ everything looked cute on him _ .

“I don’t pout.” 

Simón tries to protect his honor by straightening out his face with a serious expression but the act is quickly dropped when Ámbar moves to cradle his face into her hands. Her thumb moving gently across his bottom lip. 

“See, pouting” she whispers pridefully. 

Their faces close enough now that he can watch the exact movement in her lips as she smirks, boasting now that she’s managed to shut him up.

Simón doesn’t even realize he’s tilted his head to align directly with her own until he feels Ámbar gasp at their proximity. She looked even more perfect so close up, her freckles peeking through her light makeup, sweeping across her cheekbones, as if they weren’t defined enough. He makes the decision to go in for a kiss but is halted when a soft slap hits him on the shoulder. 

“Stop it! You stuck me in a room with Luna and Matteo without parental supervision, what excuse could possibly justify that?!” demanding he explain himself.

“They're not that bad,” Simón replies, then amends, “I mean, usually.”

Her expression remains neutral, but there’s a calculated aspect in her look like she’s trying to read his mind for her answer.

“Fine” Simóns sighs, admitting defeat if only to appease Ámbar, “I was going to wait until tomorrow morning to tell you but it seems your restlessness…” The comment doesn’t go unnoticed by Ámbar, who pinches his skin lightly as a consequence, urging him to get to the point, chuckling at her attempt to scold him he continues, “I finished everything you needed to send to Vidia.”

“What?” 

“The measurements, I took all of them.” Another look at her face reveals her complete confusion so he clarifies once more, explaining how he learned from the construction workers what dimensions Vidia was asking for and then recorded on his phone after measuring each one. “It took longer than I thought it would so I had to miss the movie night, sorry.”

Ámbar blinks.  And then, just to be sure he isn’t hallucinating, she blinks again.

In a softer voice than she usually speaks with she asks, “why would you do that?”

This time it’s Simóns turn to not understand. He thought her first reaction would be to hug him, maybe even thank him with a kiss, not look at him in bafflement like she currently was.

“What do you mean?” He hesitates before spelling it out for her, “because I love you and if there’s anything I can do to make your day a little better, I will.”

Any resentment or pettiness that he had mustered in her by not showing up completely crumbled as she listened to his sweet words. 

She softens, not expecting his words, a small part of her conscience echoing that she doesn’t deserve him, a bigger part of her thinking that maybe no one does. She’s never met a kinder soul, someone who knows how cruel the world can be and deciding that being emotionally defenseless is still worth it. That putting his love and energy into people that could betray him is better than not opening his heart for anyone. And maybe that’s why they work so well. Maybe because she sees how willingly invested he is, she feels reassured in opening herself up too. 

Even so, the insecure part of her always manages to speak up, her mouth opening to further question, “but —” 

He’s quicker than her though, before she can even emit a noise he leans in for a kiss. The kind of open mouthed kiss that bloomed the feeling of sparks flying throughout her entire body, the ones Ámbar thought only happened in the type of movies Luna liked to watch. 

It’s not a long one, clearly meant only to shut her up, or technically shut her insecurities up, but even while knowing this it’s hard for her to get mad at his method. It was clearly effective.

“Don’t do that,” she hisses, pink-tinged heat creeping across the base of her throat. “It’s—rude.”

“You interrupted me first”. And, well, he’s not  _ wrong _ , so it would be unfair of her to discourage his ways. 

“Thank you.” She says finally, realizing that she never did when he first announced it. 

Simón shakes his head, no accepting her thank, instead answering with, “You’d do the same for me.”

And she would, she thinks she might do anything if he asked her to. It’s a dangerous thought that she ignores by storing it away deep inside her brain. Instead focusing on what she should do tonight, now that she no longer had to wake up early tomorrow.

“I think I’ll spend the rest of the night filing through job applications,” she needed to hire more people to work as waiters in the Jam & Roller, for moments like this where the entire team would go to events, it wasn’t fair to always ask Eric to work full shifts. “Do you want to stay here while I do or would you rather sleep early with the guys?” Despite the efforts of Miguel to make sure neither Luna nor Ámbar had any contact with the boys when it got later into the evening, Simón would constantly sneak in to spent the night with her. Sometimes though he preferred to sleep early and Ámbar sent him off whenever she knew she would be working late into the night, which usually meant a more grumpy version of Simón the next morning.

Ámbar notices after she’s already moved towards her laptop sitting on her vanity table that Simón has yet to answer her latest question and turns to find him staring at her with a mix of stunned irritation. And still, not a word in response. To Ámbar’s credit, she remains unfazed by his inability to construct a proper sentence, merely studying him for several disconcerting seconds until he finally finds the words he was trying to report.

“It’s past midnight.” He says the words as if that in and of itself should be enough of an answer but Ámbar’s still unsure how this relates at all to his sleeping situation. 

“Okay…” 

Simón turns his head towards the ceiling like he’s praying to whatever being above them that someone helps him and Ámbar has to control the urge to videotape his meltdown as proof to anyone who's ever thought that  _ she _ was the dramatic one in the relationship.

“It’s past midnight.” He repeats, this time closing the space between them once again before taking both of her shoulders and giving her a small shake. 

Her hands find the wrists responsible for shaking her and she gives them a squeeze as she says, “I can think of a lot of things we’ve done past midnight, I don’t see how looking through job application is any different.” 

She doesn’t intend for her words to hold a double meaning,  _ really she doesn’t.  _ But she can tell from the way the look in Simón’s eyes changes that he reads this way. Ámbar bites her bottom lip watching as Simón’s eyes trace the way her teeth drag across it. It’s in the way his normally bright doe eyes are cloudy and focused that make her swing her arms around his neck to use his weight to pull herself up to his height.

“Oh really?” he mutters, cupping her jaw and sweeping his thumb across the cushion of her lower lip, still moist from her saliva.

Moving his hands to encircle her waist, Simón pulls her in closer “How about we compromise?” 

“Hmmmm” Ámbar hums, pretending to think, “I could compromise. What are you suggesting?”

Leaning his head down, the tip of his nose falls against the top of her scalp, his words fading in volume. “I say, you leave the work stuff at work and let me put you to bed.”

Her heartbeat stutters at the implication in his voice and she can’t help but feel that somewhere in this arrangement there’s been an imbalance of power, especially with the way his fingers are trailing against the trim of her shirt, lifting it just enough that her skin is exposed to cool air. How was she supposed to think straight when he was clearly distracting her.  _ He’s been spending way too much time with her, he never used to be this conniving.  _

“You’re emotionally manipulating me.” Ámbar says, leaning into his chest. His fingers dip under her shirt and lightly, torturously, draw figures across her back. The calluses he’s grown on his fingertips edge along her spine as the moment between them stretches until she groans into his shirt, “I’m being physically manipulated too”.

Simón laughs, tilting her head up to kiss her again. He was smiling even as they kissed, then kissed again. There was no better feeling than Simón’s laugh pressed against her lips, both feelings that she thought she would never encounter again for the longest time. 

Everything after that is done with a sense of insistence and urgency that Ámbar hasn’t felt since writing last minute essays in high school after ignoring the assignment in favor of going to VIP events with Jazmín and Delfi.

His kisses move down to trail her cheek, her neck, and then her collarbones, until all she can think about it is how to push her legs to loop around his waist without falling and injuring herself.

Thankfully he does the thinking for her when he lifts her high enough that she can transfer her weight onto him completely, wrapping her legs around him just as she wanted before his lips graze down further and further.

“Weren’t you tired,” she asks into his neck, curling her fingers through his hair, “what happened to ‘it’s past midnight’?”

Simón replies with a long, lingering kiss and Ámbar thinks he’s going to avoid the question altogether until he answers “Tell me that you won’t think about Vidia at all during our competition. Truthfully promise me that and I’ll sleep right now.”

It was a trap. It’s been a trap this entire time. Either she could try to finish her day with productive work but have him tempting her the entire time, to which she would probably cave to eventually but wake up tired the next morning and not even be tired having done something productive. Or she could surrender the next few days while they were gone to this event to not work but go to bed early which meant waking up more positively with a chance to still get stuff done before they left.

Ámbar dithered. He took the opportunity to walk them closer to her bed.

“I just—” Somehow looking through potential worker files doesn’t seem so important anymore, besides she’s done enough unprompted work to last Vidia a lifetime, “Fine”, she caves. 

Within seconds, Simón lays her on top of her sheet covered mattress, separating long enough for her to position herself under the covers while he stood and took off his shirt.  He crawls in beside her, leaning back against the headboard, his arm lifting to accommodate her body. It doesn’t take her more than a moment to turn against his chest, settling against him, her head slipping underneath his chin like she’s meant to be there, his hand falling to her arm.

She doesn’t realize until her head hits the pillow how exhausted she actually was. And even if she wasn’t before, the way Simón’s thumb is brushing against her skin methodically, soothingly, is lulling her to sleep. It’s obvious from the yawn Simón exhales into the slope of her neck that he’s tired too and Ámbar’s met with another wave of gratitude for what he did for her. It was more than just a gesture, it was proof, solid evidence that he promised he would take care of her. Proof that she didn’t need to carry the weight of the world on her own anymore. She’d make it up to him somehow, even if she had to spend the rest of her life doing so. She would make sure he never regrets falling in love with her.

For now though she just breathes him in, the subtle scent of warm skin mixing with cologne, her hand resting against the heartbeat of his chest. He shifts against the bed, pulling the covers up over her and squeezing her against his body.

They’re quiet for a few moments, the only sound filling the small room is their mixed breathing.  She feels Simón press a kiss against her forehead before she fully drifts off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two! Woo! 
> 
> I'm in the middle of my exam week right now so I definitely should not be spending my time writing but, here we are. I figured I neglected this fic long enough so I finally finished this second chapter. One of the big reasons it took so long is because this was supposed to be the chapter about quality time but I kind of screwed myself over last chapter by cutting it off right as Simón thinks of a plan for helping out Ámbar.
> 
> I thought I'd be able to wrap up that plotline pretty quickly in this chapter and be able to move on to a date night or something for quality time but as always I just rambled and made everything 10 times longer than it had to be. So this is now the chapter about touch as a love language because I realized that I unconsciously added in a lot of description of their physical moments so touch actually worked pretty well with what I had already written.
> 
> I also tried to explore Ámbar's guilt about all the things she did in the past and also tried to build more on Luna and Ámbar's relationship which I think could have actually been really interesting if the Soy Luna writers didn't try to rush their development so much in the last episode. 
> 
> As always, I have a tumblr (theuniversezecho) where you can reach me with your ideas, prompts or suggestions! Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Tada!!! Here we have it folks, part one of five in a way longer than it needs to be fic about love languages.
> 
> I've always imagined writing something to talk a little bit more about everyone's relationships and friendships after the finale of Soy Luna because as much as disney writers like to tie up everything in a pretty little bow, it's a lot more realistic to imagine the hurdles and obstacles they all still have to face. They're all just young adults trying to figure out the world and I don't doubt that more fights and conflicts would arise. 
> 
> That being said the first chapter is a little bit less about the friendships and more about Simbar. Which, can I just say, writing as Simón is SO hard! Like unbelievably so. I think it's because I relate a lot more to Ámbar so everything she does makes sense to me, okay, maybe not everything, I'm starting to remember all the stupid shit that she did so I'm going to take back what I just said. But her personality, more or less, matches mine. Simón on the other hand does not, so this chapter took forever to write because it was in his perspective. The other chapters I can assure you will not be and, therefore, will take less time to write. Especially since I've already finished most of them.
> 
> Also, did you notice my attempt at angst? Probably not, because the best I could do was five seconds of them staring at each other with tension and then I had to have them make up because I got sad from writing just that sentence. 
> 
> As always, I have a tumblr (theuniversezecho) where you can reach me with your ideas, prompts or suggestions! Thank you for reading!


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